Sentinel Test: Soldier Candidates Are Tested With Extreme Accuracy
How the new order of professional and psychological selection will protect military collectives
The Ministry of Defense has launched a new professional psychological selection program. It concerns both conscripts and potential contract soldiers. At the earliest stage, specialists will identify citizens with a tendency to antisocial behavior . The system was developed at the end of last year and tested in the spring. During this period, psychologists did not allow about 2 thousand potentially dangerous young people to join the troops. At the same time, the requirements for those wishing to serve in the marines, airborne forces and special forces have increased - they must demonstrate leadership qualities and a tendency to "contact confrontation".
Barrier from deviant
In the current draft, a new system of professional-psychological selection began to work in full in the military enlistment offices, Izvestia sources in the military department said. Psychologists pay special attention to signs indicating that a young person may behave inappropriately. If the tests show a tendency to deviant behavior, this information is passed on to a psychiatrist who is a member of the medical board.
The new system was tested during the spring draft, and it showed high efficiency. On the eve of the start of the autumn conscription campaign, the head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff, Yevgeny Burdinsky, said that thanks to new methods last spring, it was possible to identify about 2 thousand recruits with signs of deviant behavior and prevent them from being sent to the troops. These are not necessarily people with mental disabilities. A young man may not have any psychiatric diagnoses, and nevertheless, a psychologist, based on the test results, can conclude: he should not be sent to a military collective.
The role of professional and psychological selection has also increased significantly when considering candidates for contract service. The order was changed a year ago. Previously, a young man first passed a medical examination, passed standards for physical training, and only then professional selection, which was largely considered a formality. Now, those who have expressed a desire to become a professional warrior are sent first of all to a psychologist , who must check him, among other things, for a tendency to antisocial behavior and extremism. And if suddenly such a tendency is discovered, this information is brought to the psychiatrist.
Ready for exploration
At the same time, the requirements for professional selection for certain types of troops have become more stringent for potential contractors. The old methods only allowed to reveal a tendency towards one or another profile. Now , new criteria have been introduced for those wishing to serve in the Airborne Forces, the Marine Corps, and special forces. To pass the professional selection there, the candidate, according to the test results, must be recognized as the owner of leadership potential. The fact is that, unlike combined arms units, scouts and paratroopers operate mostly in isolation from the main forces, often in small groups. In such conditions, each soldier should be able to act independently, and if officers fail, be ready to take command.
Previously, conscripts did not pass professional psychological selection, military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia.
“There were attempts to test only those who were sent to the Strategic Missile Forces,” he recalled. - But it was done very unprofessionally - there were no good tests and methods. The conscripts heading to all other troops were not checked at all. As a result, many of the units could not stand it and broke, which could lead to the most tragic consequences. Checking in military registration and enlistment offices will help to identify such threats in the early stages. A psychologist is like a good sapper who can defuse a mine in time and save others. You cannot do without such specialists.
It is important not only to find conscripts unsuitable for the army, but also to correct the army path of the rest of the guys, the expert noted.
- Tikhon the computer scientist does not need to go to the Airborne Forces - other qualities are important there, - he noted. - But in the part where his skills in communicating with electronics are needed, he will be in his place.
Until the mid-1990s, professional psychological selection of conscripts was not carried out at all, and only conscripts registered in the mental hospital were screened out, Colonel Alexander Perendzhiev, associate professor at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Izvestia.
“In the second half of the nineties, psychological testing of recruits began to be carried out in military units,” the expert recalled. - With the help of tests, the officers had to identify soldiers with the fourth group of neuropsychological stability - those who should not be allowed to use weapons or complex equipment, given important assignments or left alone. This was not easy to do. The tests of that time can hardly be called high-quality. They were drafted extremely poorly - young people initially could not truthfully answer certain questions. But the most important thing is that the officers were not psychologists, they were taught something else.
As Izvestia wrote, the in 2019, the Ministry of Defense developed special tests of professional selection for applicants to military universities. With their help, the propensity of potential officers to combat service or managerial work is revealed. The methods allow us to determine the predisposition of future commanders to a particular type of activity.entire command staff is conventionally divided into three categories. The first includes those who are suitable for service in units directly involved in hostilities - the Airborne Forces, special forces, and so on. Qualification in the second category means having managerial skills - such candidates can take important command positions over time. Those who passed the third category can serve in all positions, except for those provided for by the first two. These are technical specialists, engineers, staff and logistics officers.
The developed tests were posted on the "military Internet" - the internal computer network of the Ministry of Defense. Access to them is given only to officers who are entitled to it according to their position. The tests have become identical for men and women - candidates are assessed in terms of professional and psychological suitability for service, rather than gender.
https://iz-ru.translate.goog/1232472/roman-kretcul-bogdan-stepovoi-aleksei-ramm/strazh-test-kandidatov-v-soldaty-proveriat-s-osoboi-tochnostiu?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui